For some reason though - maybe it was the Dayquil or the antibiotics or my serious sleep deficiency - I was quite struck at how the very thing that brought him so much pain and suffering turned out to be the key to not only his fame, but his unique talent being discovered.
How true this is for many of us...for me, the first two things that come to mind are my naturally curly hair and my intelligence. I was made fun of an awful lot for being a "nerd," spelling bee champion, and a straight-A student. Popular girls, cute boys....they'd ask to copy my answers or cheat off of me. It hurt that they had no need for me outside of the classroom. My hair was originally blond and straight as a stick, but as I grew up it became browner, wavy, and then curly. Oh my gosh, the name-calling I endured: Medusa, Chewbacca, Cousin It......
Now my intelligence and my hair get regular compliments. I graduated summa cum laude from a fine undergraduate university and achieved my master's degree with high honors. I was able to get good jobs and grow professionally, progressing from one position to another so that I might always be intellectually stimulated and challenged, just as I like it. Strangers will stop me and say they like my hair and my initial internal response is always skipping a beat, waiting for them to say "just kidding" like that jerk jock in high school said after complimenting my hair one day. Then I realize they have no ulterior motive for saying it, so they must mean it, and I feel flattered.
These are silly examples, but I just can't stop thinking that some of my most difficult obstacles and greatest stressors might just hold the key to the fulfillment of my dreams or my destiny somewhere down the road. My God has a plan and a promise for me.
